Alfred B. Hilton, First Black Medal of Honor Recipient

Feb 06 , 2026

Alfred B. Hilton, First Black Medal of Honor Recipient

Alfred B. Hilton gripped the colors tight as smoke thickened around Fort Wagner. Bullets tore the air. Comrades fell. Then the flagbearer dropped—wounded, defeated. Hilton seized the staff. Blood soaked his hands. It didn’t falter.

He held the flag high, even as death claimed him.

Background & Faith

Hilton was born into bondage in Maryland, slavery cast long shadows over his youth. Freed before the war, he answered the call when the Union needed men. The 4th U.S. Colored Infantry claimed him—a brotherhood of warriors who carried more than rifles: they carried a burden to prove their worth.

His faith was reported as quiet but resolute, a compass for a man who knew the scars of chains and the weight of a nation divided.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 18, 1863. Fort Wagner, South Carolina. The 54th Massachusetts had led the first assault days earlier. The 4th U.S. Colored Infantry followed, tasked with pressing the line, facing hell’s crucible amid deafening cannonade and whirling rifles.

The colors—a sacred symbol—bind a unit’s soul. When Hilton’s color sergeant was shot down, Alfred Hilton grabbed the flag. Twice wounded—once in the legs, once in the shoulder—he refused to fall or lower that banner.

The Medal of Honor citation later wrote:

“...carried the colors for the regiment in the assault on Fort Wagner, and although wounded, still carried the colors until he was disabled.”

His sacrifice didn’t just rally men; it seared the story of Black soldiers’ valor into history books long reluctant to include them.

Recognition

Hilton was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1864—the first Black soldier to receive the nation’s highest military award for valor. General Quincy A. Gillmore acknowledged the courage of those at Fort Wagner, saying their bravery challenged the country’s deepest prejudices.

There was no hiding Hilton’s wounds. He died days after the battle from his injuries. But his legacy was immortal:

“His gallantry in the face of savage fire stands as a testimony to the valor of colored troops,” wrote war correspondent Thomas Wentworth Higginson.^1

Legacy & Lessons

Alfred B. Hilton’s life is written in blood and courage. The flag he carried was not just cloth—it was defiance against a world that questioned his very humanity.

His story demands more than remembrance. It calls for recognition that valor knows no color, and sacrifice is the soil in which freedom’s tree takes root.

The scars veterans bear—visible or not—tell a story that refuses to fade. Hilton’s hands, clutching the colors despite mortal wounds, teach us this truth:

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — 2 Timothy 1:7

When the world turns its back on sacrifice, remember Alfred B. Hilton. Remember that courage is a flame passed from hand to hand, across battlefields and generations. His flag still waves in the stories we tell. And it will not fall.

Sources

1. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Army Life in a Black Regiment, 1870. 2. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor citations, Civil War. 3. James M. McPherson, The Negro’s Civil War, 1965.